Although the name is now a household one, ‘Shakespeare’ is not a particularly common or easy to spell name. Over the years there have been a number of variations in the spelling of ‘Shakespeare’, as well as some ridiculous mispells. But do bear in mind that back in Shakespeare’s day there wasn’t actually such a thing as a standard spelling rule – it was a case of spelling words as they sounded. So, among the most common spellings of Shakespeare over the years were: